Maharashtra Assembly Polls 2024: Congress slams Mahayuti govt for 'undermining' Shivaji's legacy

New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday accused the Mahayuti government of "undermining" the legacy of one of India's greatest sons, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and said those who reject Maharashtra's glorious history and composite culture will face their comeuppance next month.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh also alleged that the Mahayuti didn't spare the Chhatrapati from its "extortion and loot" as his 35-ft statue at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg was made so "shoddily" that it collapsed within a year of its inauguration by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself.

"The Mahayuti Government in Maharashtra, as also its patron in New Delhi, has been undermining the legacy of one of India's greatest sons," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"Seven years ago, the non-biological PM laid the foundation stone for a 696 feet statue of Shivaji Maharaj in the Arabian Sea near Mumbai. It has since been silently abandoned by his government. The jumle-baaz have had the temerity to deliver a jumla to Shivaji Maharaj himself," the Congress leader said.

"BJP leaders, in their attempts to ingratiate themselves to the self-proclaimed divinity, have belittled the Chhatrapati by comparing him to the non-biological PM," he said.

In a petty effort to spite the people of Maharashtra after their stinging debacle on June 4th, they removed the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj from its place of prominence outside the Parliament House, Ramesh said.

"Those who reject Maharashtra's glorious history and composite culture will face their comeuppance next month," he said.

The ruling Mahyuti alliance comprises Eknath Shinde's Shiv Sena, BJP and Ajit Pawar-led NCP while the opposition MVA comprises the Congress, the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray) and the Sharad Pawar-led NCP (SP).

The Election Commission on Tuesday announced that Maharashtra will vote in one phase on November 20.

Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar announced at a press conference here that the counting of votes will be held on November 23, a day before the current Maharashtra assembly completes its term.